Ageing, stress, and specialisation: mechanism and function of gut tissue regionalisation in Drosophila
Supervisors:
Dr Adam Dobson, School of Molecular Biosciences
Prof Julia Cordero, School of Cancer Sciences
Dr Virginia Howick, School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Summary:
Ageing is the greatest risk factor for human disease, yet how it disrupts cellular function and leads to pathology remains poorly understood. This PhD project investigates how ageing affects the functional organisation—or regionalisation—of the gut, using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, a powerful model for studying cell biology, regeneration, and ageing in vivo.
Gut tissues are specialised: different regions perform distinct roles in digestion, immunity, and nutrient absorption. These functions rely on precise coordination between diverse cell types—including stem cells, enterocytes, and enteroendocrine cells—and are supported by local environmental signals. However, with age, this regional specialisation breaks down, leading to disorganised tissues, impaired function, and increased disease risk.
This project will explore how functional regionalisation is established, how it deteriorates with age, and what consequences this has for intestinal and organismal health. You will use cutting-edge tools in single-cell 'omics, imaging and genetics, to characterise how niche factors and transcriptional control orchestrate the functions of distinct gut tissues, how they are regulated during stress and ageing, and the consequences for health in late life and stress resistance.